


Day 4: Dreams/Reality

by GemmaRose



Series: Heith Week [4]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Blood and Gore, Blood and Injury, Dismemberment, M/M, Other: See Story Notes, Self-Sacrifice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-18
Updated: 2017-07-18
Packaged: 2018-12-03 19:29:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11538930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GemmaRose/pseuds/GemmaRose
Summary: Something is wrong in the Castle of Lions. Something prowls the darkened halls, and Hunk is afraid.





	Day 4: Dreams/Reality

**Author's Note:**

> See end note for spoilery tags

The darkness wrapped around him like old masking tape, dry and suffocating. Hunk took one cautious step forwards, then another, keeping one hand on the wall for guidance. The castle always felt more alien during the nighttime part of the cycle, and with the lights on the fritz it seemed almost like something out of a horror movie. No sooner had he thought that then a light flickered on ahead at the corner, and he exhaled heavily as he hurried towards it. He must’ve gotten turned around in the dark, because he didn’t recognize where he was. Low voices echoed indistinctly down the hall from somewhere up ahead, and Hunk grinned at the familiar sound. Even the creepiest of situations were made better by having a friend with you. Plus, maybe whoever was up would have a flashlight or something. He didn’t even have his phone to light the way.

His good mood evaporated quickly under the oppressive darkness, but Hunk pressed onward. The fear creeping up his spine, the feeling of being watched, those were just his ever-hyper-watchful brain freaking out over nothing. He repeated that over and over in his head, but it did nothing to stop his stomach churning anxiously or his knees shaking. Another lone light flickered on ahead, and Hunk hurried towards it as someone left its beam heading away from him. He opened his mouth to call after them, but fear welled up in him and strangled any noise he tried to make. Great, looked like he was going to be chasing one of his friends through the castle halls in the pitch blackness. If it was Lance, he probably thought Hunk was a monster out to get him or something.

He didn’t see the slipper-clad feet until he almost tripped over one of them, and when he turned to see Allura he actually laughed a little. “You startled me.” he said, pressing a hand to his chest. She didn’t move, and Hunk sighed. “Overwork yourself again, Princess?” he asked, kneeling to shake her awake. Coran would be upset if he found out Hunk saw her asleep in the hallway and didn’t get her back to her room.

His fingers hit something warm and wet, and Hunk’s heart jumped in his chest. “Allura?” he asked, pulling her shoulder away from the wall. Her entire torso fell forwards, and Hunk almost screamed but all that came out was a quiet squeak. Her back was a bloody mess, the pale fabric of her nightgown dark and shiny with it. He held one trembling hand in front of her face, and nearly puked. She wasn’t breathing. Whatever he’d seen, it wasn’t a friend. An enemy was on the castle, and- a high scream somewhere in the distance jarred him to action, and Hunk was running before he knew it.

Blood dripped from his hands as he sprinted towards the sounds of a struggle, and he stumbled when it went quiet. The next light he found shone down on Pidge, leaned up against the wall just as carefully as Allura had been, eyes closed and glasses slightly askew, as if they’d just dozed off working on their computer again. Only a small scratch on their cheek indicated a struggle, and at the first shout from further away Hunk forced himself to start running again.

Lance, when Hunk arrived, wasn’t propped neatly up against the wall like Pidge and Allura had been. His body was sprawled on the floor, one of his arms torn off at the shoulder and lying on the other side of the hall at the far edge of the light. Even absolute terror couldn’t suppress the cry Hunk let out at the sight of his friend’s corpse, and he fell to his knees. Lance was in his armour, not his sleep clothes, and the shining white plates were shattered and smeared with blood. This couldn’t be happening. What monster could do this?

“Sendak.” Shiro gasped, and Hunk whirled to see his leader limping into the light. His prosthetic arm was gone, and the opposite leg was a mangled mess. He was in armour too, even more bloody and damaged than Lance’s. “He got Coran, he’s going for Keith. You have to-” his eyes fluttered, and he collapsed. His head hit the ground with a sickening crack, and Hunk very nearly retched. Somehow, though, he forced himself to his feet. Keith was strong, but he couldn’t defeat Sendak alone. Hunk took off, following the sound of fighting, and his heart leapt into his throat as he spotted another pool of light. This one was in the middle of an intersection of two hallways, and Keith spun in place as he tried to track Sendak moving around the perimeter.

“Keith!” Hunk called out, running towards the edge of the pool of light.

“Hunk!” Keith cried, his eyes wide in pure terror. He lunged towards Hunk, and for half a second Hunk worried that Keith had lost it. Then Keith’s free hand was on his head, pushing him down, and a second later the pressure was gone. Hunk lifted his head, and his heart leapt nearly out of his mouth. Keith had landed in the middle of the light, massive claw marks rending open his breastplate and flight suit and the flesh underneath. Organs weren’t supposed to be visible like that.

Hunk staggered over to Keith and collapsed next to him. “Keith?” he asked, voice shaking. “Keith, buddy, c’mon.” he pressed one trembling hand to Keith’s abdomen, as if that alone could stop the bleeding. “Don’t leave me like this.”

“But he has.” Sendak growled, and Hunk turned to see a dark purple monster with glowing golden eyes standing over him. “They all have, and now it is your turn to suffer.” two fingers of the massive metal hand wrapped around his neck and lifted him off the ground. “You, I will deliver to Zarkon myself.”

Hunk woke up gasping for air, clawing at his throat. The soft blue lights of the castle were calming, until he realized he wasn’t in his own room. He was in Keith’s. Why was he in- an image of Keith’s body sprawled on the floor, glassy-eyed and lifeless, flashed before his eyes and he nearly tripped on the blanket staggering over to the bathroom to retch. He’d emptied his stomach before he realized there was a hand stroking the back of his head, and his shoulders stiffened.

“Mornin’.” Keith mumbled, and Hunk sat up to turn around so fast he nearly knocked his partner over.

“Keith!” he exclaimed, shooting to his feet and grabbing him by the arms.

“Uh, yeah?” Keith chuckled, trying to pull free. “Dude, let go, your breath reeks.”

“You’re _alive_.” Hunk nearly sobbed, he could feel tears welling in his eyes and didn’t bother trying to blink them back.

“Yes?” Keith frowned. “Look, we can go sit on the bed and talk but at least rinse out your mouth first.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Hunk nodded, and grabbed the mug sitting on the edge of the sink. It was red, with uneven black jags coming down from the rim that were longer around the handle, one of the first gifts he’d given Keith. He filled it with cold water, swished and spat until his mouth tasted less like death, and dumped the remainder down the rain before setting the mug back down on the edge of the sink.

Keith was still there when he left the bathroom, and now that his heart wasn’t trying to beat its way out of his chest the sight leached some of the tension from Hunk’s shoulders. For a few long seconds he stood in the doorway, just watching Keith pick under his nails with his dagger. It seemed so surreal, after last night’s fight with Sendak.

“You wanna talk about it?” Keith asked, pausing in picking at his nails to look up at Hunk. Hunk nodded mutely, and walked over to sit down heavily on the mattress near Keith’s feet.

“I’m not sure where to start.” he admitted. Now that he’d calmed down and was thinking about it a little more, things didn’t quite add up.

“Well, start with the beginning.” Keith suggested with a shrug. “That’s what you usually do when you’re telling me about your bad dreams.”

“It didn’t feel like a dream.” Hunk muttered, and Keith sat up properly.

“Well, tell me about it and I’ll tell you if it happened or not.” Keith said bluntly.

“It was dark.” Hunk said slowly. “I got turned around in the halls, because only a few lights were on. And then...” he squeezed his eyes shut, and Keith scooted up next to him.

“It’s okay.” he said softly. “You didn’t budge from this bed all night.”

Relief crashed down over him, and Hunk slumped against Keith. “Thank god.” he said forcefully. “It seemed so _real_ , everyone’s bodies and you fighting him and-”

“And it was all just a bad dream.” Keith reiterated. “Hunk, hey, look at me.” he caressed Hunk’s cheeks, guiding his face up. “We’re alive, and Sendak is dead. It was just a dream. You don’t have to worry about him.”

“I’m still going to worry about you, though.” Hunk said, placing his hands on Keith’s hips and pulling him into his lap, savouring the warm, living weight of him. “You fight like an idiot.”

“I fight to win.” Keith rolled his eyes, settling on Hunk’s knees. “And anyways, isn’t that why we’re a team? I’m the sword, you’re the shield.”

“But still.” Hunk leaned forwards, resting his forehead against Keith’s. “Just for this morning, can you be a little less wild? It’d help me calm down.”

“Sure.” Keith agreed. “But only if you go brush your teeth right now. Your breath still smells like barf.”

Hunk snorted, and kissed Keith on the cheek. This, at least, definitely wasn’t a dream.

**Author's Note:**

>  **Tags:** _Nightmares, Temporary/Not-Really Character Death_


End file.
